Lone Wolves in the USA (new title)
Moderator's Note
This thread was called 'Lone Wolves after Newtown, Conn', which was a murder spree at a school and the focus has been lone wolf / lone wolves activity in the USA. There is a separate thread on lone wolves beyond the USA:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=16226 and a separate thread on Terrorism in the USA:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ead.php?t=8828 . Thread retitled 'Lone Wolves in the USA'. A small thread was merged in today (ends).
The murders @ Newtown, Connecticut have rekindled the debate over how the USA responds before such attacks occur. SWC has debated 'Lone Wolves' before, mainly as a terrorist tactic and after the Va Tech shooting a few years ago.
I am sure there has been ample coverage and commentary - a small proportion reaching my reading screen - and sometimes on the BBC.
Via RCP I found this article 'Even Experts Can't Spot the Next Violent Shooter' helpful, even if it "pours cold water" on several "pet" policy suggestions recently advocated:http://nationaljournal.com/domesticp...ooter-20121218
Passages like this:
Quote:
But even psychiatrists struggle to pinpoint who could turn violent. “We are really terrible at anticipating behavior, or predicting behavior. There’s no theory—in psychology or psychiatry—that gives us a good basis or framework” to predict what will cause a young person to act violently, said Dr. Victor Schwartz, medical director at suicide-prevention group The Jed Foundation.
I do wonder - as an observer of the USA - whether public policy priorities are wrong. So much is clearly devoted to 'Homeland Security' or counter-terrorism, I acknowledge there is a threat and since 9/11 rarely successful and not enough on responding to non-terrorist, occasional, lethal attacks.
Can the leviathan of counter-terrorism be re-targeted?
NRA's Future Coarse of Action
The NRA's Press Conference today was headlined by the Wash Post, NRA’s Wayne LaPierre: Put ‘armed police officers’ in every school (Sean Sullivan, December 21, 2012) (LaPierre has proposed this before).
The Post also has provided the transcript, Remarks from the NRA press conference on Sandy Hook school shooting, delivered on Dec. 21, 2012 (Transcript). It includes closing remarks by Asa Hutchinson (Wiki bio), which outlines a two-pronged approach to school security:
Quote:
HUTCHINSON: We all understand that our children should be safe in school. But it is also essential that the parents understand and have confidence in that safety. As a result of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, that confidence across this nation has been shattered. Assurance of school safety must be restored with a sense of urgency.
That is why I’m grateful that the National Rifle Association has asked me to lead a team of security experts to assist our schools, parents, and our communities.
I took this assignment on one condition, that my team of experts will be independent and will be guided solely by what are the best security solutions for the safety of our children while at school. Even though we are just starting this process, I envision this initiative will have two key elements.
First of all, it would be based on a model security plan, a comprehensive strategy for school security based upon the latest, most up-to-date technical information from the foremost experts in their fields. This model security plan will serve as a template, a set of best practices, principles, and guidelines that every school in America can tweak as needed and tailor to their own set of circumstances.
Every school and community is different, but this model security plan will allow every school to choose among its various components to develop a school safety strategy that fits their own unique circumstance, whether its a large urban school or a small rural school such as we have in Arkansas or anything in between.
Armed, trained, qualified school security personnel will be one element of that plan, but by no means, the only element. If a school decides, for whatever reason, that it doesn’t want or need armed security personnel, that, of course, is a decision to be made by the parents and the local school board at the local level.
HUTCHINSON: The second point I want to make is that this will be a program that does not depend on massive funding from local authorities or the federal government. Instead, it will make use of local volunteers serving in their own communities.
In my home state of Arkansas, my son was a volunteer with a local group called Watchdog Dads (ph) who volunteer their time at schools, who patrol playgrounds and provide a measure of added security. President Clinton initiated a program called Cops In School, but the federal response is not sufficient for today’s task.
Whether they’re retired police, retired military, or rescue personnel, I think there are people in every community in this country who would be happy to serve if only someone asked them and gave them the training and certifications to do so.
The National Rifle Association is the natural obvious choice to sponsor this program. Their gun safety, marksmanship, and hunter education programs have set the standard for well over a century. Over the past 25 years, their Eddy Eagle (ph) gun safe program has taught over 26 million kids that real guns aren’t toys, and today child gun accidents are at the lowest levels ever recorded.
School safety is a complex issue with no simple, single, solution, but I believe trained, qualified, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of difference as well as the last line of defense.
Regards
Mike
The four above Posts are pretty well correct.
Can't guard against nut cases with ANY Strategy; the NRA missed a chance to be part of the solution sez this Endowment Member, Slap and Bill as always add common sense. This isn't going away, the media does more harm than good and the fact that most the recent crowd of shooters were big time gamers isn't a strategic pivot...
"Cops in Schools" - Clinton, Bush II & Obama Admins
The "Cops in Schools" projects (plural; a number of different pilot projects developed) came to life because of President Clinton's Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, as part of "Community Oriented Policing Services" (COPS).
According to the Sep 2000 AG's Report to Congress:
Quote:
p.12 pdf
COPS has been at the forefront of one of the most pressing issues facing our country today – violence in our nation's schools. Through its COPS in Schools program, COPS has funded the addition of over 2,600 officers in our nation's schools. These school resource officers are partnering with students, teachers, and parents to become an important part of the fabric of the daily school environment.
See p.18 pdf: COPS in Schools was initially awarded (Oct 1998) $294.4 million (Salary/benefits costs over $125,000 for a 3-year period).
The program continued into the Bush II Admin with a 2005 258-page guide, A Guide to Developing, Maintaining, and Succeeding With Your School Resource Officer Program - Practices From the Field for Law Enforcement and School Administration. E.g., p.116
Quote:
Finally, programs may wish to consider providing training in other areas addressed in COPS in School trainings, including:
- community policing in the schools (e.g., the SRO as a community liaison and problem solver),
- youth culture and diversity (e.g., the challenge of school bullying), and
- promoting mental health in schools, including intervening with at-risk students (e.g., detecting early signs of trouble).
Obviously, there is much more in the 2005 Guide from Bush II.
The website for the Obama Admin's version of "COPS" appears as I write this. I was especially interested in "The Latest Information on Community Policing"; but alas, after going there, I found of material interest to me only "Campus Safety":
Quote:
With over 15 million students and several million more faculty and staff at U.S. institutions of higher education, it is not surprising that campus safety is a field of great interest within community policing. That is why the COPS Office provides a range of resources to help administrators and security personnel create safe and secure environments on our nation's colleges and universities.
The Scope of the Problems
Security services on the nation's campuses vary considerably in size, role, authority, and quality. They include full-service police departments, private security operations, contractual services, and more. Campus police departments also vary greatly in how they relate to and share information with local and state public safety agencies.
In light of tragic violent events on several campuses, more than 20 institutional, state, professional association, and governmental reports have recommended that colleges and universities develop and implement threat assessment and management tools to enhance campus safety. The COPS Office offers a variety of resources aimed at helping the campus public safety field address these and many other issues.
COPS programs focused on institutions of post-secondary education have included the 2004 National Summit on Campus Public Safety hosted by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Community Policing Institute, the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement's Fellowship Program and Accreditation Pilot, the United Negro College Fund Special Programs Corporation's Campus-Community Policing Partnership Program and, most recently, the Margolis Healy and Associates Campus Threat Assessment training seminars.
So, there is some current Federal LE emphasis on "higher education" safety.
However, in the publications, I scored more success re: school safety (at the secondary and primary levels). Thus, we have 2009 COPS Secure Our Schools Grant Owner’s Manual (SOS):
Quote:
Abstract: Provides funding to municipalities to assist with the development of school safety resources. SOS funding will allow recipients the opportunity to establish and enhance a variety of school safety equipment and/or programs to encourage the continuation and enhancement of school safety efforts within their communities.
and, 2010 Assigning Police Officers to Schools:
Quote:
Abstract: Nearly half of all public schools have assigned police officers, commonly referred to as school resource officers (SRO's) or education officers. Assigning Police Officers to Schools summarizes the typical duties of SROs, synthesizes the research pertaining to their effectiveness, and presents issues for communities to bear in mind when considering the adoption of an SRO model.
Exactly what the present status of this program is = ? to me. Is it funded, defunct, etc. ?
This little backgrounder may help in reading through the extreme left and right wing posts on this specific topic.
Regards
Mike
PS: I thought it a bit humorous to see an argument develop on the application of doctrinal (and non-doctrinal) military strategy and the military planning process to what is such a basic local domestic political question. Well, what the hell !; this is a military site and it's the holiday season - so, go to it. :)
An Analytical Method for The Identification of Lone Wolf Terrorist(s)?
An attempt to provide some answers by a post-grad LE student, before the Newtown murders; 'Analytical Method for The Identification of Lone Wolf Terrorist', just over ninety pgs, double-spaced and it can be downloaded from:http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.c...act_id=2041939
From the Abstract:
Quote:
A case study approach is used to explore and reveal common themes across three different incidents of lone wolf attacks. The research results revealed what has been termed as rhetoric shifts that act as markers in the evolution of a lone wolf terrorist. Based on the results of case study, an analytical method is explored and proposed for the identification of lone wolf terrorist from within the broader population they exist
On my first read it is interesting, although without direction and resources (including training and data-sharing) it is easy to see this approach floundering. At least the author has tried, which makes his paper of value.
The shorter version is:
Quote:
The Newtown school shooting has re-awakened debates not only on gun control and mental illness, but also on the role of law enforcement in detecting and eliminating emerging threats. Quietly emerging is a solution that means not more guns, but more militarization.
Link to an article:http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensec...st-911-america
The author, now in the private sector, has a short bio on:http://www.pennassoc.com/OwnerAndFounder/index.html
Creativity is what makes wolves dangerous
A short FP article by Dr. Jeffrey Simon, I assume prompted by the Boston bombing and this passage caught my attention - citing their creativity:
Quote:
What makes lone wolves so dangerous is their ability to think outside the box. Since they operate by themselves, there is no group pressure or decision-making process that might stifle creativity. Lone wolves are free to act upon any scenario they can dream up. This freedom has resulted in some of the most imaginative terrorist attacks in history. For example, lone wolves were responsible for the first vehicle bombing (1920), major midair plane bombing (1955), hijacking (1961), and product tampering (1982), as well as the anthrax letter attacks in the United States (2001).
Link:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._one?page=full and the author's website:http://www.futureterrorism.com/